Postman awarded compensation after being bitten by dog near Kettering

Sam Wildman

A postman who was bitten by a dog on his round near Kettering has been awarded compensation.

Jason Turner was delivering mail in Padmans Close, Mawsley, on April 6 when he was attacked by a German Shepherd dog called Simba.

Yesterday (Wednesday), Wellingborough Magistrates’ Court heard how Frank Wan, 70, was looking after his grandchildren and the family pet at his son’s house when he saw Mr Turner bring a parcel to the door.

He failed to make sure that the dog was behind a door in the utility room and as Mr Turner handed him the parcel, Simba ran through the open door and bit the postman on the ankle before running back inside.

Mr Turner suffered two puncture wounds to his left leg and was bleeding.

Prosecuting, Zoe Lee said: “He fully accepts that he was in charge of the dog and should have checked that the dog was behind the door.

“It was a lapse in concentration and a lapse on his part.”

Wan, of St Francis Close in Kettering, pleaded guilty to being a person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury.

Representing himself in court, he said the incident took him by surprise.

He said: “I am not as sprightly as I used to be.

“It was as much of a shock that he ran out to me as it was to the postman.

“It’s the nature of the dog, they always think a knock on the door is a knock to see them.”

Wan was fined £85, ordered to pay costs of £85, pay Mr Turner £100 in compensation and pay a victim surcharge of £30.

Sentencing, chairman of the bench Lady Susan Hunt said: “It is a concern that the dog is capable of what happened in this incident.

“Great care must be taken to make sure that it does not happen again.”